Back in the Game

I woke up determined to perform well. I pressed my uniform and finished my homework assignment. I arrived in the kitchen more confident equipped with everything I needed. We were given an assignment to prepare two kinds of dough. We were asked to partner up, one partner to make chocolate dough and the other, vanilla. Well, I was left without a partner and when I approached Chef, he told me I had to make both in the same amount of time. “Yes chef!” I returned to my station where I collected myself and prepared to execute. I gathered all the necessities and placed them around me in an organized fashion—mise en place. I prepped my oven for yesterday’s dough, which ended up not having a rack. I prepped another oven. I got in the mode. I made the two sets of dough, caterwrapped them, and threw them in the fridge. Afterwards, well behind the others who only had to prepare one dough, I placed yesterday's dough on a jumbo sheet with enough space for anticipated spread. While waiting for the cookies, I cleaned up my space and watched as every single person pulled out their cookies. All of their cookies spread into one another while in the oven. When I pulled mine out, mine were the only ones that hadn’t touched. They were perfect! I plated them and finished two other kinds of cookies and quickly plated them for grading. I decided to take artistic license and plate in a unique way that I found more aesthetically pleasing. Chef liked my work and found nothing wrong.  His critique was all I needed to boost my confidence. During his closing demonstration, Chef Guillard finished by saying, “Any questions? None? Jonathan, none?” Ha. Even though he may have been mocking me for being a questioner, I rather appreciated it.

Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut

 Linzer Cookies

Jeweled Linzer Cookies

In the last hour of class, Chef Knight basically forced me to give her some of the cookies I made. Everything else, a blur. After the walk home, Hunter and Yolanda helped me set up a photo journal of all of the treats I bring home. After the shoot, we prepared Adobo, ate, and then slept. Not before preparing for the next day.